What Stays, And What Fades Away
by damonandelenaforthewin
Summary: Set sometime after 3x12, Klaus has decided to hit Elena and Stefan where it hurts: by kidnapping Damon. But who will come to his rescue, and will they be able to save him?
1. The Night Time Fear

In the dead of night, Elena's eyes fluttered open. She was curled up in bed, her diary to her side. Nothing unusual or out of place, but something had woken her up. Glancing at her clock she realized it was only an hour until she'd planned on waking up, anyways- she usually woke up around five am to be ready for a training session with Alaric at five thirty. She tried to go back to sleep, but after ten minutes of a gnawing sensation in her stomach telling her something wasn't right, she decided she should probably listen to her gut.

She made her way to what was now Alaric's bed room, and knocked lightly on the door. When this didn't produce a result, she grasped the door knob, intending to just go on in and wake him up, and then she heard a crash.

She instantly went into defense mode, pulling herself against the wall to seem scarce, and straining with her ears to hear anything else, to pin point what had caused the noise. As far as she could tell, glass had been broken in the living room, or possibly the kitchen.

Her breathing grew haggard as several seconds passed, and she decided she wasn't going to be a damsel in distress. Maybe she was incredibly stupid, or incredibly brave, or probably both, but she ran back into her bedroom, slipped on her converse, and grabbed the stake she'd started keeping underneath her mattress.

Making her way down the stairs, it became clear- someone had broken a window. Half walking and half crouching, in an effort to not be seen by whatever may be watching from outside, she approached the scene. On the floor, scattered among the glass shards, were coins. There was nothing special about them- quarters, pennies, dimes- but she knew Elijah's calling card. The Original was somewhere in her direct vicinity- but why break windows? Elijah already had an all-access pass to the Gilbert family home thanks to the late Aunt Jenna, so why would he toy with her? Elena gripped a coin in her hand, looking around warily. Tired of the waiting game, she spoke out.

"Who's there?" No answer. "I know you're here. Just show yourself."

There was a flash, and suddenly she was looking into her own face. No, not her own. Katherine's.

"Hello Elena," Katherine purred, side-stepping the girl's advance with the stake and leading her into the kitchen. "Oh, I wouldn't try to use that if I were you." Her heels clacked on the hard wood floors, and Elena grimaced as she watched Katherine trace a line with her finger on the exact spot she'd cut Uncle John's fingers off.

"What are you doing here? Do you know who broke the window?" Elena demanded, tucking the stake against her side as she crossed her arms.

"That was me. Sorry,I always had a flair for the dramatic. And the reason I'm here is so that I can deliver a message."

Elena stiffend, shifting her weight. "A message from whom?"

Katherine's eyes glittered, hate suddely filling them. "You skip your vervain dose_ one_ day, and there Klaus is," She spat, taking a step closer to Elena. "Making you his little messenger, courtesy of compulsion." Katherine tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, leaning against the kitchen island, looking more bored than compelled, but still clearly seething with contempt.

"Why would Klaus send you to give me a message? Why not just tell Stefan, or Damon?" Elena asked, not understanding.

"Because that wouldn't be as poetic. And also, problem with Damon. That's the message. Klaus has taken him hostage."

Elena gasped, almost loosing her grasp on the stake. "What? What do you mean, hostage?"

"Klaus wants his last coffin back, and Stefan doesn't wanna give it. And seeing as Stefan loves _you_ whether he'll admit it or not, and you both love Damon, whether _you'll _admit it or not, he figured: threaten Damon, and one way or another, he'll get what he wants."

Katherine had delivered her speech in an amused monotone, surverying her manicure for any flaws, and something about how bored she looked was pissing Elena off. The human girl grabbed her doppelganger's arm, knocking her off her guard, and looked her square in the eye.

"Does this really mean nothing to you? That Damon's in danger? How can you be so flippant?" Elena demanded, shaking her head in disgust as Katherine ripped her arm free, retreating from the kitchen.

"Sorry if i seem a little self-centered lately, but after the message was delivered I'm not really supposed to stick around for chit chat. I have to go back to being tortured by Klaus." The female vampire's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Elena almost felt sorry for her at the mention of her having been tortured. But Katherine had made her bed long before Elena had been brought into this. Whatever happened to her, she probably deserved it.

"So I'm supposed to, what? Go try to convince Stefan to give the coffin back? He'll never do it. He doesn't care about anything now other than destroying Klaus."

Katherine raised an eyebrow, her lips turning up into a grimace. "Well then I hope you have a plan B. Because Damon doesn't have a lot of time left. "

The bewilderment shone in Elena's eyes as the wheels in her head turned. "Time left until what? What did Klaus _do_?"

Katherine's voice got quiet for a moment, and for the first time that night, her tone displayed the appropriate severity for the circumstances.

"He bit him."

And then she was gone.


	2. The Morning When It's Clear

Elena was banging on the door of the boarding house before the sun had a chance to rise, impatient and angry that for once the front door was locked.

"I know you're here, Stefan. It's important."

Secoonds later Stefan opened the door, clad in nothing but pajama pants, holding a hot cup of coffee. "What do you want, Elena?" He asked, pronouncing all the syllables in her name with a sort of languid annoyance. "You do realize it's 5 in the morning?"

Elena brushed past him, the hem of her flare jeans brushing the granite floor of the foyer, spinning back to face him as he shut the door. "I know what time it is," She huffed, crossing her arms. She had barely gotten her jacket and jeans on before she was on the way to his house. She knew it was a long shot, but Stefan had what she needed, and if his reaction to the news that she'd kissed Damon had meant anything, then maybe she had a chance at breaking through the walls he'd put up around his humanity.

"Klaus has taken Damon. He had Katherine come to my house to deliver the message. He's bitten him, Stefan, he doesn't have a lot of time left, and you're the only one that can help me." Elena's eyes pleaded with him. Stefan merely took a sip of his coffee and stared.

"He wants the coffin back. He's desperate."

Elena shook her head. "He's not desperate, Stefan, he's pissed. He knew where to hit us, and he did it. And this time, we have to give in. You have to."

Stefan's eyes softened for a moment, but he shook his head in reply, setting his coffee down. "You know I can't do that, Elena. That coffin is the only leverage I have left. I'm not giving it up."

Elena's eyes grew wide with horror. She took a step closer to him, her arms tight against her chest. "Do you even hear yourself right now? This is Damon. Stefan, he's dying. _Right_ now, as we speak. You _know_ that you care."

Stefan was angry. Every time he was close to accepting that this was who he was now, this _one girl _had to keep coming back, trying to force his humanity back into him. Didn't she understand by now? The Stefan Salvatore she once knew didn't live here anymore. And he couldn't think of a better way to prove it to her.

"Damon is the reason I'm where I'm at right now. Because I already saved him, _twice_. I gave you up the first time he got himself bitten by a werewolf. I'm not giving up the only thing i have left to destroy Klaus with just to save him again. I'm done."

Elena's eyes hardened, and her palm cracked against Stefan's jaw line before she even realized she'd raised her arm.

"_No_, Stefan. _I'm_ done. I want you gone. Out of this town. Out of my life. I don't care where you go, but this isn't happening anymore. You can take your precious coffin and play your games somewhere else, and _I'll_ save Damon."

Elena bounded out the door of the boarding house, halfway to her car before Stefan reappeared in her path.

"Don't be stupid, Elena. You can't do anything to Klaus."

Elena scoffed. "You wanted to make me hate you. Well, you got your wish. You don't get to worry about me anymore. Now get out of my way."

Stefan looked at her, hard, but didn't say a word, didn't move a muscle. In the end it was Elena who walked around him, climbing into her car and gunning the engine towards Plan B.


	3. The Hole In My Head

By six am Elena had the gang rounded up- or at least what was left of it. Elena, Alaric, Bonnie and Caroline all sat in the Gilbert living room, the window that Alaric had boarded up letting in a draft that was felt by everyone besides Caroline.

"What are we gonna do, guys?" Caroline asked, the doubt palpable in her tone. She had looked at the equation from every angle, and so far her only solution was to find a way to get the coffin from Stefan without his knowledge. But she didn't even know how to begin to do that.

"I tried asking Stefan again. I told him I wouldn't keep helping him try to open the coffin. He didn't seem to care," Bonnie said, an untouched cup of hot chocolate between her hands.

Alaric sat down, finally finished sweeping up the spare change and broken glass. "It seems we have three options. There's try to convince Stefan to give up the coffin-"

"There's no convincing him. I saw the look in his eyes when i told him Klaus had bitten Damon. He didn't care," Elena said softly, interrupting Alaric. His brow furrowed as he registered the pain in her voice. "Next option."

Alaric drew a breath. "Next option is to take the coffin back without Stefan knowing, and deliver it to Klaus. We'd have to detain him somehow."

Caroline raised her hand, thinking for a moment that they were back in Alaric's history class. "I'd bet money he's moved the coffin by now. I mean, Bonnie could try to locate it, but- "

"But you can't locate inanimate objects, Care. It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. As useless as convincing Stefan to give it to us." Bonnie finally took a sip from her mug, suddenly wishing she'd asked for coffee instead. She needed something to take the edge off.

"Option the third, then," Alaric proposed, clearing his throat. "We go in there guns a-blazin', rescue Damon and-"

"And watch him die from his bite? Because none of us is going to get access to Klaus's blood without getting seriously dead." Caroline's already high-pitched voice was becoming frantic. She'd had her share of run-ins with Damon, and she had never really been too fond of his general behavior, but she knew what dying from a werewolf bite felt like. She didn't wish that on anyone, let alone a second time. And she could feel her best friend's pain from across the room, even if Elena wouldn't admit that she clearly loved the guy.

Alaric sighed. He dropped his hands to his side, his body language displaying that he was all out of ideas. "You're right. Just getting Damon back isn't going to save him. We're going to have to offer something to Klaus in return. Something that will want to make him cure Damon."

Elena's head snapped up, her eyes suddenly alert, all traces of pain wiped away with a newfound vigor. "What if we had another option?" She asked.

"Then I'd say, let's hear it," Alaric replied, fiddling with his eternity ring- silently wondering if whatever his part in this plan of hers was going to require the magic he felt was dwindling out of it.

"I'm going to need you, Bonnie. And Caroline. Alaric, I can't risk you coming with us- last time you died that ring didn't fix you completely, and i'm not risking the only parental figure i have left," Elena dictated, her worries mirroring his own. Alaric was about to object, but Elena ignored him, continuing on.

"But if we do this, there's no backing out. You two will have to do exactly what I say. You have to promise me, that no matter what I ask of you, you'll say yes. For Damon's sake."

Bonnie looked to Caroline, both of them wearing masks of uncertainty. They seemed to communicate silently, before Caroline nodded, "I'll do it. Whatever you need, Elena."

"We're here for you, 'til the end. But I'm doing it for our friendship. Not Damon," Bonnie added, holding her head up high. She didn't want Damon dead, but she needed Elena to know that the stength of her promise was bound to their friendship.

Elena nodded, accepting Bonnie's words. "This might be hard on you, Bonnie, but I need you to create a spell- something that puts up, kind of a force field. I need to be able to be within proximity to Klaus, but for him not to be able to get close enough to touch me, or any of us."

"I don't think he's going to try to kill you, Elena. He needs you alive to make his hybrids," Alaric argued.

"What he might do to me isn't what I'm worried about, Ric. It's what Caroline's going to do that I can't let him interfere with, or else the whole plan falls apart."

Caroline's ears perked up, but she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear.

Meanwhile, Bonnie wasn't sure she even had the magic that Elena needed.

"The closest thing I can do to what you need would be similar to the tomb barrier magic- but it would only be temporary. With only one witch, the longest I could keep it up is a few minutes, maybe ten, tops."

"Klaus won't know that, though, and if he believes our bluff, I won't need it much longer than that," Elena explained. "Caroline, how long would it take you to feed someone your blood and break their neck?"

Caroline flipped her hair, bouncing in her seat. "Well that would only take me a few sec-"

And then the entirety of Elena's plan dawned on them all.


	4. Anything To Make You Stay

"You can't do this, Elena. You can't be the martyr, not again. As your lone parental figure, I won't let you."

Alaric and Elena had squared off, with the witch and vampire barbie watching from the sidelines.

"I'm not asking your permission, Ric. This is Damon we're talking about."

"And what do you think Damon would think of this plan?" Alaric demanded, getting in her face. "Do you seriously think he'd be okay with this? Potentially becoming a vampire against your will? He would _never_ let you do something this reckless."

"Well it doesn't matter what you think, Alaric. Or what Damon would think. This is the plan, and this is how it's happening. So unless you have any other ideas, then be helpful and go tell Stefan to get the message to Klaus. Tonight, i meet with him."

Alaric huffed, turning away from Elena and grabbing his coat as he slammed the door behind him. He had plenty of other ways to be useful, and if Elena was going to throw her mortality away, then those ways all involved day drinking.

His foot steps felt heavy as he made his way to his SUV, and he hated that he felt like he was running away. By the time he got to the turn lane, he'd broken down, switching lanes at the last second. He was heading away from the Mystic Grill and towards the boarding house.

Back in the house, Caroline looked up at her best friend, almost afraid of how forceful Elena had become. "I hope this works. I hope he believes us. Because i really don't wanna kill you, Elena."

Elena's eyes softened, her hand reaching out to Caroline's shoulder. "It _will _work. And besides, i'd come back."

Bonnie's trepidation was clear. She'd began to scour over her grimoire's in Elena's kitchen, searching for all the right parts of the spell she'd need to conjoin to create the temporary barrier, but she looked up at Elena through her work, needing a green light to procede. "You sure this is what you want, Elena?"

Elena was determined. "It's what i want. Damon would die for me. I owe it to him to at least try to do the same."

Stefan sat in his living room, a sweatshirt the only thing he'd added to his pajama pant ensemble, his cell phone twirling in his fingers. Alaric had just left, and he couldn't believe that he was going to do it, but he knew that he owed it to Elena .

"If you're not going to give up the coffin, at least do this," Alaric had said brusquely, shoving his hand on the door frame before Stefan could slam it shut. "We don't have any other way of communicating with Klaus. So either give me his number, or make the call."

Stefan had thought for a moment, before giving in. He had to at least seem amenable if he was going to figure out what Elena's plan was. "What's the message?"

"School gym, 6 o'clock tonight, and bring Damon. Elena needs to talk with Klaus."

"Talk? Really? She thinks talking is going to make him give back Damon?" Stefan had scoffed, leaning against the door nonchalantly.

"I don't think Elena is really thinking at all, to be honest," Alaric had replied, a shadow of doubt crossing his face. "But it's the only plan we have left." And the glorified history teacher had refused to say any more.

Stefan didn't know what Elena had up her sleeve, but he would make the call, seeing as it was the only hope his brother had. And he would be there when it went down, too. Elena might want him gone, but as much as he pretended not to care, the only mission second to destroying Klaus was keeping Elena safe. And her life was most definitely not worth his brother's.


	5. Tell Me What You Want Me To Say

Elena was nervous as all hell. She, Bonnie and Caroline were standing in the Mystic Falls High gymnasium, and Klaus was six minutes late and counting.

"Do you think he's gonna show? I mean, maybe Stefan didn't even call him, maybe he just- "

"Of course I'm going to show, darling. I'm just a little fashionably late." Klaus's accented voice, gentlemanly yet still cruel sounding, boomed across the open space.

The triumvirate of teenage girls turned to see Klaus, strolling in from the gym's other entrance, Elijah in tow. Elijah had something slung over his back, which Elena realized was Damon once the brusque Original had unceremoniously dumped his vampire cargo on the floor.

"Damon!" Elena cried, stepping forward, but stopping herself from running to his side.

"Elena?" Damon slurred, trying to manuver himself so that he could see her better. He could barely move, the sleeves of his sweater pulled up to reveal more than one werewolf bite, that Klaus had undoubtedly delivered himself. "What am I doing here? Why are you here, where's Stef-" Damon absconded into a coughing fit, rolling over onto his side, trying to hide the blood that was coming out of his mouth.

Elena's eyes watered as she watched him cough, barely able to make coherent sentances. She wondered if the delirious faze had already gone or if it was still yet to come. She didn't know exactly how long since he'd been bitten, or if the number of bites affected the potency of the poison. "You're gonna be okay, Damon, it's gonna be ok. We'll survive this," She called out to him. Hoping he'd hold on long enough for her to fix it.

"Now why would you lie to the man who loves you?" Klaus asked, taking a step towards her. "You clearly don't have my coffin, so whatever you're going to tell me, probably isn't going to be worth a cure." Klaus smiled, his hands clapsed behind his back. Elijah stoof behind him, silently surveying the scene.

"You're right, Klaus. I don't have your coffin. Stefan wouldn't give it to me, not even to save his brother. But that doesn't mean I don't have leverage."

And on Elena's last word, _leverage_, Bonnie heard her cue. She quietly started chanting, the light bulbs in the gym brightening with a surge of energy as her power converged, and before Klaus could cross the room to stop her, the wall was up. Now she just needed to keep chanting to keep it up.

"What the hell is this?" Klaus demanded, a snarl almost on his lips, his hands up against the barrier, as if any amount of physical force could bring it down.

"Like I said, Klaus. It's my leverage. We're going to make a deal. Damon's life- and the lives of everyone I love- for your continued access to my blood. I promise to never become a vampire, as long as you promise not to harm another resident of this town. Starting with curing Damon."

Klaus smiled."Really, Elena? You expect me to believe that? The one thing in this whole world, the one thing you'd rather die than do- and you're threatening to do it to save _Damon_? Oh, that's rich."

Damon twitched on the ground, the mumbled sounds of Elena's name escaping his lips, as Elijah suddenly became very tense.

"I'd believe her if I were you, Niklaus. The last time i called her bluff, i ended up dead," Elijah said dryly, his eyes on Elena.

Klaus turned to look at his brother, the seed of doubt planted in his mind.

"Exactly how did you plan on turning yourself? Where are you going to get the vampire blood? And I knew yuu were a martyr, but suicide didn't seem to be in the cards for you, Elena."

Elena's eyes slitted, the snark freely flowing in her voice. "It doesn't have to be. I have Caroline. Why do you think Bonnie's put up a wall, hmm, Klaus? It wasn't to protect _us_ from _you._ It was so you couldn't stop them from what Caroline will do to _me_."

Klaus turned to Caroline, his tone patronizing. "Would you really do that, Caroline? After what I've done for you? After everything you and Elena have been through together, you'd really kill your best friend?"

Caroline didn't budge. She smiled at the menacing hybrid, her voice resolute. "Like she told me. She'll come back." And that was Elena's cue to drink, as Caroline slit her wrist and held it up to Elena's mouth.

"No!" Both Klaus and Damon yelled out at the same time.

"Don't do it, Elena! He'll just- kill you- only safe- as a human-" Damon managed to sputter. But no one was paying attention to him.

Klaus was fuming, and as Caroline pulled her arm away, Elena wiped her mouth clean of the remaining blood.

"There. Now either you feed your blood to Damon and leave without harming any of us, or Caroline here will snap my neck- and you can say good bye to your hybrids."

"You're banking a lot on my desire for hybrids. What if i don't need anymore? What if i'm fine with what i've got now?" Klaus asked, his voice almost rising to a shout as he struggled to control his panic.

Elena smiled. "Because you'll never be fine with what you've got. Your family hates you. Your hybrids only listen to you because they're _sire-bound. _Face it, Klaus. The willing slaves you create are the only friends you've had for the past thousand years. You'll give up that coffin tonight before you face the world completely alone."

Elena's statement had hit a little too close to home, if Klaus's expression was any indicator, but she wasn't finished yet.

"And you can't threaten me, because I don't care if you kill me once I turn. That's the thing about being a _martyr_; I'm not afraid to die."

Elena's self-satisfied smirk sold it; Klaus was about to give in. And not a moment too soon- Bonnie knew she couldn't keep the barrier up more than a few more seconds.

"Fine. I'll agree to your terms. But you just have to answer me this," Klaus drawled, smiling as he took another step forward, the invisible wall coming down as Bonnie fell to the floor, bleeding from her nose. Caroline took one look at Elena and with a quick nod from her, scooped up Bonnie and got the hell out of dodge, courtesy of vampire speed.

"What?" Elena asked, looking right back into Klaus's eyes, facing the fear she'd been instilled with since Katherine's first tale of the originals.

"Why were you willing to die for him? We all know how he feels about you, but why did you go to all this trouble?"

Elena blinked, not really prepared for the question. "Does it really matter?"

"I just want to hear you say it, Elena," Klaus smiled, already knowing what Elena was about to say.

So Elena admitted it. If that's what she had to do to save Damon's life, she'd do it. She'd do anything for him.

"Because my life was the only bargaining chip I had left," Elena replied, sighing as she looked down at Damon's form, half delirious, half listening to their conversation. Her eyes turned back to Klaus. "And i can't live without him. I love him."

And then Elena was on her knees by Damon's side, cradling his head in her arms, wiping the sweat from his face with the sleeve of her shirt, whispering about how everything was going to be okay.

Klaus was smirking as he made a small incision is his arm and fed it to Damon, but not because he'd gotten Elena to say what everyone already knew she felt.

But because he knew that the whole time, _Stefan_ had been in the shadows, watching, listening.

It sure wasn't what he'd come for, but for Klaus, knowing that Stefan's heart had just been ripped out almost as thoroughly as if he'd done it himself- it had been worth it.

Elijah walked to Klaus's side, watching with his brother as Elena helped Damon up and out of the school gmynasium, watching until they were out of sight.

"Well," Elijah said, hands in pockets,"That didn't go quite as planned."

Klasus smirked again.

"No," The hybrid agreed. "But it was one hell of a show."


End file.
